caution when considering purchasing a bobcat

[tahoe_bobcat]

/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
i dont know if this is going into the right section but here it goes, i have been reading several posts about how great inregsoll rands customer service has been to so many bobcat owners acosss the country, however mine is a tale of woe and deceit. i will try to keep this as short and to the point as possible. in 2002 i purchased a brand new S250 bobcat with a snowblower as an upgrade to my snow removal business, the machine was not 1 hour old when it froze up due to metal shavings cought in the hydrolic fluid filters, can you believe they actually charged me to come out and fix it.
next i had a problem with the throttle cable. the S250 has 2 holes on the outside of the cab next to the thorttle, when it rains water gets into the cable and the throttle freezes open or closed(whichever position i leave it in) when the temperarure goes below 20F i thought this was a freak incident but it has happened 3 times at $200.00 per cable. my bobcat dealer told me to remedy the situation i need to park it indoors, when i spoke to other users up here they all tarp their machines after each use !!
my next isssue is regarding a saftey recall in may of last year. i was informed by mail of a recall involving the loader arm circuitboard, i contacted my dealer and they told me there was no recall and I !!! should contact ingersoll rand and confirm that there was a recall. after i confirmed the recall it took 17 phone calls and 8 months to get the circuitboard replaced. the only problem was that during my monthly maintenance star up, the circut board malfunctioned and caused over $1500.00 in collateral damage to hydrolic lines and 3 other boards. it took me having to call north dakota and complaining to corporate HQ to get any one out to fix the machine and the local dealer even charged me travel time and from what i have read bobcat remburses their dealers for travel time up to one hour, since i only live 40 miles from the dealer they should not be charging me. this goes against ingersoll rands "code of ethics" they refer to so much on their website.
my final "beware" involves the blower itself. my salesman told me "you will never have down time from an object getting caught in the fan or auger, we have a series of hydraulic safteys that will bypass the fluid if somthing gets stuck in the blower." well last week somthing got stuck in the blower and it blew out the hydraulic fan motor. this somting was a piece of ice that had froze itself from the bucket to the auger. when i explained the situation to the service manager he said this was a very common occurance and that i had blown a rod in the motor it woul only cost me $960.00 plus travel and installation ($1400.00 total) to get me operating again.so how did it go from this situation will never happen to $1400.00 please, can no one stand behind their word or product.
let it be known that my S250 does not even have 500 hours on it. it does not have enough ours on it to qualify for its first schedualed maintanence. after writing to ingersoll rand ceo herbert henkel and vp bruce collins their decision was to refer me back to my local dealer to resolve any issue. so much for anyone at HQ caring.
it is my intent by writing this ( and more to come on as many forums as i can post on and will be setting up my own site ) that everyone interested in purchasing ANY piece of heavey equipment interview as many current and ex customers of all the brands in that catagory to find out who in their local area will give them the best service so they will not have to go through what i have been put through in the last 3 years.
p.s. the picture showes how much ice it took to destry my blower.
GOOD LUCK WITH WHATEVER YOU PICK

 

[thcri]

Sounds like to me you got yourself one bad dealer. When they come out the first time and charged you that should have been a good indication there. Bobcat from I have always heard has been good. Lot of contractors around here have them.

murph

 

[tjkadar]

To put it bluntly, your dealer sucks. You need to find another dealer or another product. If IR won't help you, and your dealer wont help you, then that kind of leaves you in a very difficult position. Luckily, there are many other skidsteer manufacturers from which to choose.

I would seriously consider another machine from a different dealer.

 

[KiotiJohn]

This is not the first time I've heard of similar situations. I'm actually surprised that Bob Cat is still getting as much coverage as they are with many problems that I've heard discussed.
Your dealer, and the company have certainly fallen down on the job, with the dealer out-and-out ripping you off.

If I were you, and if it's still possible, I'd take the dealer to small claims court to recoup the money you paid for a warranty-covered item.
John

 

[Builder]

...and if that doesn't work, put your machine up for sale and get a different brand. It might be hard for you to believe, but that machine is creating too much negative energy in your life.

I had a truck that was a love/hate deal like that. I followed a friend's advice and reluctantly sold it. I bought a replacement for it and I'm much happier now.

I know you'll lose some money, but the sleep you're losing is really bad for your health & happiness.

 

[tahoe_bobcat]

thanks L39builder,
i was supposed to meet with the service mgr. and the general mgr. on friday, however the service mgr. called in sick and the general mgr. went out on a call to elko (a few hundred miles away) so i took the opportunity to interview the deere and cat dealers, i felt good when talking to both of them, however i felt good about bobcat too. next i am going to talk to many owners of each of the machines i am looking at. i really want to see how they (the dealers) deal with customers who only own 1 or 2 machines, from all my phone calls to bobcat owners in my area there seems to be a pattern arising of forgetting about small accounts and concentrating on not losing their big fish.
at this point the ONLY thing that would change my view of bobcat and/or make me stay with them would be an apology to me and everyone else who went through this type of ordeal. a change in literature and sales tactics to more accurately reflect the capabilities of their products, (no more salesmen saying that the attachment will never go down because their hydraulic safety system is foolproof). a refund of all the money i spent on the repair of components damaged by the recalled chip and the rest of the unrepaired damaged parts fixed. i would like to be reembursed for the cost of the auger motor and its replacement. and finally it would be nice if they would listen to their customers concerns and ideas, after less then 200 hours i have done more modifications on that machine that actually work then they have in 4 years.
so you can see why i am looking for a new company and why i am going to do some indepth research before i spend another $50k + on another machine.
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND ADVICE D.

 

[pekabu]

Not that I know much about skid steers, but there are a ton of brands out there. Case, NH, Mustang, ASV, JCB....

I assume you know this, but just in case I though I would mention it.

 

[fuelburner]

How did this situation turn out for you, we have a mini skid steer that the exhaust manifold has cracked for the eight time today. Company gave us a loaner to use while machine was being repaired, but machine keeps breaking! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[kozak]

Sorry to hear about your trials & tribulations. What a repugnant Dealer. Even so, you would at least have expected Ingersoll Rand to back up their product or at least chastised the Dealership for not looking after you better.

I will remember this post the next time somebody in my neck of the woods suggests "Bobcat".

As one of the other posters indicated......much better to count your losses now & move on to something better. Anythings gotta be better than what you just went through.

Vic

 

[keeney]

I am not sure if there are any other Bobcat dealers in your area, but most factory warrantys don't lock you into the original dealer. You might as well sping again. There are also independent shops here and there that are generally much easier to deal with.

From your story, if the warranty was not expired at the time of the repairs, I would agree you should go after them for all of the $$$.

Metal shavings at 1 hour - I think a judge will actually laugh at the dealer if they try and defend making you pay for that one.

Throttle cable - clearly a workmanship problem in the design. Outdoor equipment should be reasonably waterproof. They should replace it as many times as it gets stuck until the warranty expires. Or they should fix the design. Did the manufacturer or dealer park it outside before they sold it to you? Maybe it was already partially rusted when you got it.

Circuit board recall - if you were actually trying to get it replaced and during their prolonged delay it failed and caused other damage, thats a no brainer. It was a problem they knew about - it will be impossible to deny it as a design flaw.

The $1400 for the snowblower will be the toughest to collect since it is based on a verbal promise, and they may also argue that you abused the machine because you didn't check for foreign objects before clearing the area. But I would go for it as well. Its not like blowing chunks of ice are outside of its intended use. It is supposed to be able to handle snow and ice - its a snowblower!

I had an old Dodge truck that I hated due to poor service until I switched to taking it to a different dealer for service. Night and day in the blood pressure department even though it was still the same old truck.

- Rick